Democrat Dan Goughnour wins election in Pennsylvania, keeping party in control of the state House
HARRISBURG — Democrat Dan Goughnour is the winner of a special election in western Pennsylvania, keeping majority control of the state House in his party's hands.
Goughnour beat Republican Chuck Davis on Tuesday for a seat in the Mon Valley region southeast of Pittsburgh.
The seat became vacant in January when Democratic state Rep. Matthew Gergely died.
Goughnour's victory means Democrats hold the House by a single vote, 102 members to 101. Holding the majority means Democrats can keep House Speaker Joanna McClinton of Philadelphia as the chamber's presiding officer.
Goughnour has spent well over a decade as a police officer in McKeesport and currently serves as supervisor of detectives. He is a Teamster and a first-term member of the school board in McKeesport, where he graduated high school. Goughnour is married and has three children.
Davis, a veteran volunteer firefighter and fire chief, is president of the White Oak Borough Council.
The district is about 12 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, at the confluence of the Monongahela and Youghiogheny rivers. Many of the towns that make up the district were part of the once-thriving steelmaking region, but the area is now economically challenged.
There’s also a special election Tuesday for a vacancy in the state Senate created when Sen. Ryan Aument, a Lancaster Republican, quit to take a job working for U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick. Republican Lancaster County Commissioner Josh Parsons is running against Democrat James Andrew Malone, the mayor of East Petersburg. No matter which candidate wins, the Republican majority in the state Senate will not change.
